A hundred dance moves per minute

Delivered on a Segway!

2012-01-25T12:23:00.002Z

Have you ever had a takeaway menu through your door that you just couldn't throw away? No. No one has. Until now. I love this menu. And here's why:

This is my favourite bit. I want to be in this grid. You want to be in this grid.

Could it be the best steak you ever tasted? It depends on whether you have ever spent more than £6.95 on a steak and chips dinner, I suppose - but I'd be happy to be proved wrong.

People say there are too many fried chicken outlets in metropolitan areas. Perhaps what this astonishing document shows us is that, really, there just aren't enough. Bravo.

What a great album cover

2012-01-11T08:26:00.002Z

That is all. (It's Escort's self-titled album).

Sound of 2012

2012-01-03T12:00:00.002Z

On the first week of the year, the BBC website runs its BBC Sound of 2012 (for example) poll. With the greatest of respect - BURN IT DOWN. Here are the five acts that will redefine music this year - ending with the "Sound of 2012".

5. Crumbles & Corn

The breakout act of this year's Indietracks festival, Aberdeen's Crumbles & Corn proved capable of turning arch-spined, pot bellied scenesters into frenzied dance machines. Ignoring trad jangle, twee-folk and rote C86 shambling, the band combine a three-stringed nylon acoustic, atonal chanting and cardboard box drums to lethal effect. "We wanted someone to spill their fucking Tizer for once", says guitarist Ed Tomlinson. "I saw a kid pissing on his own cardigan" adds vocalist Fudge. Drummer Janyss Cotton (cousin of Fearne!) describes their upcoming album "Trench Warfare" as "glue-sniffing for people who don't like glue".

4. Markuss

As Chillwave fades into the distance, with acts like Ariel Pink and John Maus unable to crack the mainstream, a new nostalgic sound has emerged from the unlikely wellspring of Glossop in Derbyshire. Self-styled "morbid shut-in" Marcus Wentworth filters the knuckleheaded thrash of early-90s metal titans like Sepultura and Pantera through gooey synthesisers and "raps" over the top. "I'm just making the music I want to make", he declares on his debut single "Stop Getting Tattoos". A recently-inked contract with Universal suggests that others want him to make it too. His "Grandma Chic" album is due in February.

3. Lebanese Skin Party

"We're realer than anyone else. Realer than your worst nightmares. The last gang in town." Frontman Oliver Skin might just be right. The first band to be on the cover of the NME before writing their first song ("we just got the call and thought, yeah, having it"), LSP met at Bradford Grammar School and bonded over the Strokes' "First Impressions Of Earth". "It was so good, we vowed never to listen to another record, and we haven't. It was just too perfect. A band needs to bring rock n' roll back. I'm sick of all this dubstep bass shit. Where are the songs? We're about getting out of it, girls, having adventures, a good time." On the evidence of their "Second Impressions Of Earth EP" and an explosive support slot with Viva Brother, Lebanese Skin Party will be near the top of at least one year-end list come December.

2. Rotor Motor

No one created more buzz in the second half of last year than Rotor Motor did with his series of "BIGGA BETTA" 14" singles. Dubstep artists are second only to looters in their desire for anonymity, but Rotor goes a lot further than wearing a hoodie and a mask. He DJs live from a specially redesigned tank. Meticulous about presentation and determined never to break cover, Rotor Motor's appearance at Creamfields Buenos Aires descended into farce when bass vibrations from his vehicle caused an over-mined stretch of land to subside, with hundreds of MDMA-powered dancers experiencing an early comedown and, in 13 cases, premature death. A press release read simply "ITS (sic) ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC".

1. Albert III

"I'm all about pop. I'm all about fun. I'm all about love. Women, men, whatever! Come one, come all, I kiss you!" In a landscape dominated by slick talent-show and stage-school stars, Albert III's "I Kiss You" single is a hymn to acceptance. "I was bullied as a child, I didn't fit in. But they couldn't stop me dreaming. I want to be like Freddie Mercury, Liza Minelli and Margaret Thatcher all in one!" Just six months ago, Albert III was Steve Gosforth, working at a branch of Natwest in Surbiton. "Steve Gosforth is dead," he pronounces grandly, Meerschaum pipe in hand. One night I was walking home from work and a white light shone down on me, perhaps from a UFO or God himself. From that moment on, I was Albert III and I'll be Albert III until I die." Reportedly the subject of the biggest marketing spend "since Norwich Union turned into Aviva, darling", Albert III's "I, Albert III" LP should hit the charts like a bomb in late January.

Albums of the year 2011 4-1

2011-12-30T00:30:00.000Z

4 CHATEAU REVENGE! - The Silver Seas

"What's The Drawback?"

"Another Bad Night's Sleep"

3 FATHER, SON, HOLY GHOST - Girls

"Vomit"

"Alex"

2 DAYS - Real Estate

"It's Real"

"Green Aisles" (live)

1 THE ENGLISH RIVIERA - Metronomy

"The Bay"

"The Look"

"Everything Goes My Way" (featuring Roxanne Clifford)

Albums of the year 2011 8-5

2011-12-29T00:30:00.000Z

8 ZONOSCOPE - Cut Copy

"Need You Now"

7 TRUE LOVES - Hooray For Earth

"True Loves"

"True Loves (Cereal Spiller Remix)"

6 50 WORDS FOR SNOW - Kate Bush

"Wild Man"

5 STARTING FROM NOW - Heidecker & Wood

"Right To The Minute"

"Life On The Road"

Albums of the year 2011 12-9

2011-12-28T00:30:00.000Z

12 DIAPER ISLAND - Chad VanGaalen

"Peace Is On The Rise"

11 LAST SUMMER - Eleanor Friedberger

"My Mistakes"

10 HOTEL SHAMPOO - Gruff Rhys

"Sensations In The Dark"

9 PARALLAX - Atlas Sound

"Amplifiers"

"Terra Incognita"

2011 Albums of the year 16-13

2011-12-27T00:01:00.002Z

16 UNDERNEATH THE PINE - Toro Y Moi

"New Beat"

15 UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

"How Can U Luv Me"

14 GLOSS DROP - Battles

"Ice Cream" (NSFW)

"My Machines" (feat Gary Numan)

13 TRAGEDY - Julia Holter

"Goddess Eyes"

2011 Albums of the year 20-17

2011-12-26T00:01:00.000Z

20 THE KING IS DEAD - The Decemberists

"Down By The Water" (Live On Jimmy Kimmel)

19 VERONICA FALLS - Veronica Falls

"Bad Feeling"

18 WELCOME TO CONDALE - Summer Camp

"Down"

"Better Off Without You"

17 MIRROR TRAFFIC - Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

"Senator"

An unmissable treat.

2011-12-20T15:06:00.001Z

This year as last year, Lunge Dolphin has emerged to put a Jesustide smile on my face - and yours! Check his mood.

Lunge Christmas 2011 from Eclectic Schlock on Vimeo.

Come get drawn tomorrow, by me, at Cornerhouse Sketchomatic

2011-11-29T09:48:00.000Z

MANCHESTER, UK ALERT
I will be working the portrait booth for Sketch-O-Matic at the Cornerhouse on Oxford Road tomorrow (Nov 30th) from 1-2pm. I draw you, £1. Details here!

scarygoround.com site issues

2011-11-21T15:38:00.000Z

Some readers have been getting a generic (and gross) holding page rather than the usual Scary Go Round website today. From what I can work out, the domain name for one of my nameservers (the backup) lapsed so what you're seeing is some kind of spontaneously generated holding page. I don't think the DNS has been hacked, I haven't lost control of the site, or any of the other horrible things I thought might have happened this morning.

I have requested the necessary changes to fix this, so hopefully it will be sorted in the next couple of days. If you've not been able to see today's comic, have a look here.

Mr J. Allison at Leeds Thought Bubble Festival

2011-11-17T15:47:00.002Z

Are you in the north of England? Then why not come and see me this weekend at Leeds Thought Bubble Festival. It's at the Royal Armouries, and I am assured that the venue will be "rammed with intrigue" and "spoiled for talent". For the first time, the show is running across two days and I will be there all day Sunday too.

I will be on a panel, "Comics Economics", from 14:30 – 15:20, in the Alea Casino Cinema Room. Come down, hoot and holler that I am "da best". Demand the hits!

I'll have the following items, many of which you can't get on the site.

* Some show-only limited Bad Machinery collections of The Case Of The Lonely One and The Case Of The Simple Soul
* A few Scary Go Round / Giant Days / Ghosts books
* Meat Means Dinner Aprons
* Knitting Is Zen totes
* A variety of limited prints, A4 and A5 size
* Stickers!!!
* The last few tea-towels
* Postcard sketches (depending how busy I am, I may do larger drawings - probably only on Sunday, but do ask if you're interested)
* Other assorted gewgaws and curios
* RAW LOVE FOR FANS / ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS THAT PLAGUE YOU

I really hope to see some of you there, this is my favourite UK show - it gets better every year.

Cold, Dead Fingers Dept

2011-10-10T12:22:00.002Z

Much ink has been wasted on whether music as a predominantly digital format has cost us something precious, and wonderful, and irreplaceable, and why can't I stop crying &c. There have probably been losses and gains. No song ever need vanish from the catalogue, no treasure need be buried unheard, deleted. Physical formats become fun and worthwhile when produced, rather than drably essential. There need never be another CD released with a single page in the jewel case, another exercise in "why did we bother".

Sure, there's too much music to ever listen to it all, but that's like having too much dinner and remembering with a warm glow the cold hard certainty of rationing. I miss the excitement of the record shop, but not the excitement of discovering something new.

But I don't feel the same way about ebooks. I hate them. I genuinely hate them. With music, your relationship is predominantly with what is going in your ear. Yes, you may stare at the cover for Tales From Topographic Oceans by Yes for half an hour while going on a prog journey, but that really is making your own fun at its most innocent, deny that if you like.

The relationship with a book is very different. It's a tactile object relatively unchanged since the Gutenberg press. You've got to hold that thing in front of your face. It's your buddy until you're done with it. A well-thumbed, much read book is like a vile, beloved, drooled on childhood bunny, but you wouldn't buy one of those second-hand unless you had a lot of problems in your life.

Now I sell ebooks, of course I do, because people want them, and while I am sentimental, I am not mental. And I can shove in 50 extra pages that I found down the back of the sofa because it costs very little to do so. Did I think those pages were worth publishing the first time? No. There's something wrong at the heart of that, like the height of the CD era, when filling the disc to the full 74 minutes became paramount. Bloat over art.

I've seen examples of the beautiful work being done in interactive ebooks for children. They depress me. Kids are in a world of their own and we seek ever more to make concrete things that would have lived in their imagination. Any graphic work is dead on screen compared to how it looks on paper.

This is the first time I've felt like this. I love digital media. They free us from clutter, from waste. But I don't think we have to be beholden to gadget manufacturers on books. I don't think we need to enter the dismal Kindle's annual upgrade curve. Books aren't a delivery medium, they're an art form. We forget that at our peril.

The Beatles

2011-09-27T08:04:00.000Z

Today heralds the US release of Kate Beaton's "Hark A Vagrant" through the auspices of Drawn & Quarterly and I commend it to you. Kate has been a friend and an inspiration since 2007. Her work has a lightness of touch and an infectiousness that makes it easy to ape but almost impossible to originate - anyone who has witnessed her brutal creative process can attest to that.

Kate's Mystery Solving Teens and Bad Machinery originated on the same day, in the same car, from the same teen-based event! I doubt I have achieved with 400 pages what she has managed in the minds of readers with ten. Now she's not perfect. Don't ever let her touch anything you own if you like its current, unspoiled condition. But if you want to follow Agent Dale Cooper's advice and "give yourself a present every day", here's todays.

Blame The Sky cover process post

2011-09-06T12:43:00.000Z

I haven't blogged much lately but I thought this might make a nice little process post. Here's the process for working on the new cover for Blame The Sky, which I just added to my e-book shop. If you like e-books, why not buy it? It can't hurt, can it?

Here's my original sketch, which I did with a ball point pen while cooking some rice. It didn't take very long.

I then began to painstaking trace my original in Illustrator. Flaws in the original sketch soon become evident when you add solid colours .

Once I was done tracing, I refined and juggled around shapes until people looked like they were meant to. Tessa and Rachel are characters I've hardly drawn in the last five years, so I had to do a bit of revision in order to capture their attitude. Amy was easy. Apart from how she barely looks like she did then at all.

Here's the new cover next to the original. The original was never very good. I was capable of a lot better even back then, but I didn't know how to lay out an effective cover so I would often do something rather stiff-looking, just to get it done.

Despite hardly drawing anything in Illustrator since 2006, I can produce a far nicer illustration from it now than I ever could back then. It's a great program to produce a sharp-looking drawing from, but fresh hell to work in day-in, day out if you want to produce organic looking comics.

Birmingham Sketch Party

2011-07-10T18:27:00.001Z

I was lucky enough to be sitting between Joe List and Kristyna Baczynski at Birmingham Zine Fair, and there are few people more able to reduce me to paroxysms of helpless mirth than those two. Any summer blues were blown askew by this kindly two. A lot of ideas hit paper, and I am able to post some highlights below. Prepare for a feast!

In the first picture I illustrated the point that what I am looking for in a girlfriend is "a really high forehead". Then, below, Joe List and Mr Dan Berry explore their love of CSI. At the bottom, Kristyna and I go "sales mad" with explosive and largely unproductive fervour

With love and marriage now firmly on the agenda, Ms Baczynski and I played a game of "Couples", where each artist has to draw half of a romance and the other creates a suitable mate. What followed was, by turns, beautiful and unutterably vile.

Meanwhile, Joe had drawn on a large number of Post-Its, in the hunt for the ultimate idea. And below, together we created a Blind Date/Dating Game style trio of suitorettes for me. Tina Warbucks has the nightmarishly high forehead that I called for, Tessa Terabyte has glamour and plenty of external storage, while Polly Clock is sweet-natured and extremely punctual, with a kind of moving facial timepiece tattoo. Lorra lorra!

The choice... is yours (MINE).

Birmingham Zine Festival

2011-07-06T08:40:00.000Z

If you live in the middle of England, why not come down to Birmingham Zine Festival on Saturday July 9th, where I will be selling books, doing sketches, and attempting to raise the nation's spirits. It's a free event! I'll be sharing a table with my friend and ally Kristyna Baczynski, whose work is a stone cold treat for the eyes and mind.

It's at the We Are Birmingham shop on King's Parade, very near New Street and Moor Street stations, here's a map! I hope to see you there.

Jack Cole's instant cartooning course

2011-06-21T17:53:00.000Z

I've found Jack Cole's Instant Cartooning Course very useful on numerous occasions. It helped me a lot with hands (it shows you how to understand and get hands right with a pentagon-based system) and swiftly demystifies heads in profile.

Jack Cole was the creator of Plastic Man, he also produced many beautiful painted pictures for the then-newly launched Playboy. I took the scan above from "Jack Cole and Plastic Man" by Art Spiegelman and Chip Kidd, a fascinating overview of his often crazed, dynamic work.

Here is the text from the course - it's probably better just to buy the book but there are so many gems in here that it would be daft not to include it.

Simon Reynolds on "decor for life"

2011-06-13T17:03:00.001Z

This is from the current issue of The Wire magazine. Simon Reynolds' latest book, Retromania, came out very recently and I look forward to cracking it soon.

'Underground', in 2011, means creating an atmosphere of cultural intimacy. So the most apt comparison for where do-it-yourself music is today might be Etsy, the online market for handmade and vintage items. Not only is the economic structure similar — small entrepreneurs selling their wares at fairs or through specialist boutiques but doing most of their business online — but the aesthetic sensibility overlaps. There are the same vintage materials and formats (T-shirts with pictures of old-fashioned typewriters, notepads that repurpose the covers of 1970s textbooks), the same penchant for slow unwieldy production methods, even similar iconography (lots of Etsy stationery features animals and birds, particularly owls!)

But what this analogy leads onto is the unsettling thought that underground music making is becoming a niche market, a form of hip(ster) consumerism that slots right next to distressed furniture, microbrew beer, artisanal cheese and vintage clothing. No longer art as an intervention in the battlefield of culture, but art as 'décor for life'.

I agree with Simon to a greater extent. The two questions I ask are:

1. Have uncertain times, in concert with lives led online where there is little reliable constancy, led people to embrace comforting, often infantile tropes?

2. Were the culture wars over when ever greater media divergence (across all platforms) meant that the great, abstract "water cooler moment" disappeared and one could simply ignore the culture you didn't like? Have most of the guns simply been put away?

Charlotte

2011-06-09T09:52:00.000Z

Charlotte is a fun character to draw and one of my favourites to write. One of the hardest things about making Bad Machinery is drawing characters who are growing up on the page. I have to run all their parallel developments in my head at once, try to keep them in proportion and on-model, at a time when the once-trustworthy human body starts rebelling in 100 confusing ways. Lottie is perhaps the easiest because I can look at her sister Sarah in Scary Go Round, and her mother, I know where this road is probably going to end.

Please stop me thinking

2011-06-08T13:10:00.002Z

At what point do outsourcing of labour and automation of repetitive jobs (particularly client-facing) begin to undermine business beyond the point where outsourcing (thereby lowering prices) and automation (lowering employee cost) can make up the shortfall? What happens to global capitalism when you make more than a certain portion of the workforce redundant because they simply aren't needed?

My initial guess is that perfecting human pyramids will become a lot more popular.

This self deprecation has to stop

2011-06-07T10:45:00.001Z

On more occasions than I care to count, someone has come up to me at a comic show, pressed their little photocopied effort into my hand, and said "it's not very good". And 49 times out of 50, I manage to stop myself saying "then why on earth should I read it".

If you've taken the time to draw something, and photocopy it or have it printed, and travel to a destination, and give your work unsolicited to a complete stranger, try not to make this oft-repeated faux pas at the final moment. Your work may not be of a professional standard, it may be loose, "sophomoric", poorly lettered, imperfect - it may be flat out rotten - but you finished something, and if you finished one thing, you can finish another, and you will improve.

Here is the rub. There are people at every comic show I attend producing work that I can only describe as execrable, who stand with consummate pride next to their rotten pamphlet and sell it to all-comers - with an astonishing degree of success. Now, I know that it comes down to character. Those people are probably psychopaths.

Self-criticism is a valid exercise and a vital component of improvement. But it is not an attractive attribute to strangers. Wrestle your terrors alone in a windowless room under an unshaded bulb, with a loaded pistol and a jam jar of potent "prison screech" on the table.

Out and about, on the scene, I want to see you beaming with pride that you made it out of that room with all your teeth and most of your sensibilities intact.

ADDENDUM: If you approach me with a comic called "Sh1tty Comics", "My Crap Comics", "Cavalcade Of Rubbish", "The Underperformance Chronicles", "Awful Tales" &c, I will tear it up in front of you or shred it upon my return home.

T-shirts on the internet

2011-05-30T18:45:00.001Z

Here are the 10 categories of successful tshirts on the internet

1. Pop culture recognition humour / copyright violation
2. Self-affirming message
3. Acknowledgement of under-represented group
4. Acknowledgement of under-represented pastime
5. An extremely "clever" image
6. A sensational piece of easily "gettable" wordplay
7. Unexpired meme
8. Food and drink
9. Come-on / invitation to a come-on
10. Juxtaposition/combination of items 1-9

Every time I broke these rules, I ended up with a lot of leftover shirts.
The ultimate non-expiring meme is "cats". You're welcome.

Here's what I'll be doing at MCM Expo

2011-05-26T14:23:00.000Z

I'm exhibiting at MCM Expo in London this weekend, and it's a funny old show. So I have a new feature: GO MANGA. Perhaps there are some clues to what I am up to in the image below:

Pick three cards at random and I will draw you as an ultimate manga king or queen based on those three characteristics. If anyone wants to add to my list of three-word-max criteria, please feel free to add your suggestion in the comments. So far I have:

Robot armour
Wings
Stupid cute sidekick
Weird eye thing
Huge boots
Totally dreamy
Big hair
Oversized dangerous weapon
Air of mystery

I'll have a couple of books for sale and some stickers and badges, but this time I'm here to meet people and draw. So please come and say hello!

Fear Of Failure

2011-05-24T15:47:00.000Z

Iconic designer Milton Glaser (of "I Heart NY" fame) on "fear of failure", professionalism and experimentation. Whatever your field, I think you can learn something from this sage seven minutes.

Milton Glaser – on the fear of failure. from Berghs' Exhibition '11 on Vimeo.

Giant Days Redux

2011-05-23T11:23:00.000Z

I really enjoyed working on this week's Giant Days comics. They were complex to make, more difficult layouts that I had tried before. Most of them are like two of my normal comics in one - the first things I've done that I'd want to print at an A4 size rather than the smaller size that I usually work at.

I had intended to draw them all like the test comics I posted last week, but half way through the second one, I started to feel like I could give them a bit more polish and make them really nice. Below is the first one I did in pencil - and here's the version I actually ran. I like both, but the subsequent pages needed more than I could give them in this rougher style. Difficult to explain!

Incidentally, I came up with the pencil-and-photoshop method as a way of saving time. By the time I'd done a couple of them, I had gobbled up almost all that time filling in lovely ragged looking brick walls. There is also a measure of extra care required when laying out panels. Add in scanning, putting on proper panel borders, and clean-up, and the savings were negligible.

Though working on Giant Days made me want to do a proper, longer, story, returning to Bad Machinery straight away has felt right, straight away. I love the characters and of all my projects , it's the one that feels like it has the most gas in the tank. I hope you'll enjoy The Case Of The Lonely One.

Hey artists...

2011-05-18T07:57:00.000Z

...here's a blog post from Phil McAndrew full of copper-bottomed advice. To take an example:

We all have particular artists that we love and have been influenced by. But one of the worst things you can do is to get stuck on those artists or to try to imitate them. Yes, it’s good to study other people’s art and learn from it but don’t just hone in on one or two artists that you really admire. Study LOTS of people’s work.

If you only allow yourself to be influenced by James Kochalka you’ll just end up as a poor man’s version of James Kochalka. No one draws like James Kochalka better than James Kochalka. Why would anyone care about your work when they just go look at a James Kochalka book? James Kochalka is an awesome cartoonist and you can learn a lot by studying his work BUT make sure you learn something from a lot of other artists too. If you’re drawing comics, try ignoring other people’s comics for a while. Find inspiration in novels or nature documentaries or old videos of Etta James on Youtube or poetry or newspaper articles. Your comics will be much better if you do this. You won’t find success if your only sources of inspiration are other comics that are already popular. A thousand other people are already trying to make something just like that one comic you love and chances are most of them aren’t going to find much success either.

It’s also important to go outside and experience new things and interact with people. The world will feed you new ideas and new sources of inspiration. If the only thing you are able to write about or joke about is video games then may the good comics lord have mercy on your soul.

A treatise on contemporary covers

2011-05-13T19:35:00.000Z

I was in Forbidden Planet in Manchester about a week ago, and took a moment to look at the comic book covers. Or rather, I challenged my friend Joe to find even one acceptable, nicely designed cover on all the "mainstream" pamphlets. Now, I'm not going to tell you that we didn't find any, because we did. Out of about 250 books, we found three.

The other 247 covers hove to one of three formulae, either singly or in combination:

1. Stiff, stock pose, glaring outward
2. Warring dudes/dames collide or hero legs it: SIDEWAYS
3. Tits to the fore!

I do wonder if the people who commission these covers have actually seen what 247 covers featuring no negative space to catch the eye, racked side by side, look like. Well, I'm happy to tell you. They don't look like anything.

Here are two of the three non-terrible covers we found:

(The last one I couldn't find online, it was a Matt Fraction Marvel book with a very striking design).

If you want to see some amazing comic book covers from the last 30 years, check out this gallery of Bill Sienkiewicz work - so many faultless compositions. The older I get, the more I appreciate his art.

Of course, rubbish has been around since the first human put down the burnt umber, scratched his bum, squinted a bit, and said "that'll do." But comic book covers, like so many contemporary novels and magazines, show more clearly than anything where heavy-handed marketing has killed innovation and creativity. Where, to put it bluntly, thick people have smoothed out the wrinkles that made things interesting, beautiful or incongruous.

It's your money they want, and they treat you like you're stupid. Demand better!

Nelson

2011-05-06T07:54:00.001Z

At last this has been announced, so I can talk about it! I've done four pages for this:

I tend to steer clear of anthologies, usually because I have no short pieces to contribute to them, little time, or rather, little time or inclination to work for free (because you are inevitably working for our old friend "exposure"). But Nelson provided the opportunity to work with talented people and contribute to a greater whole. I can't wait to see it in its finished form.

Anya's Ghost

2011-05-04T07:52:00.001Z

Back in 2002 at San Diego Comic-con, I met a young artist called Vera Brosgol. Vera was a fan of my work, although when I saw her drawings, it was hard to tell why - as in her late teens she was already capable of better than anything I could manage. That she ended up working in the movies is no surprise.

And she did a few guest strips for me, back when I was a contender, all of which were superb! Check them out. In addition, Vera offered me a few nuggets of (frankly, violently blunt) advice four or five years ago that completely changed the way I drew and set me on a path of constant self-improvement. I'm never going to catch her up, but it's good to keep running towards that Russian dot on the horizon.

And at last, 9 years after that initial encounter, Vera's first graphic novel Anya's Ghost is about to drop (via the auspices of First Second Books). I've read it, it is superb.

So congratulations, Vera. You're sometimes right, sometimes wrong - but always certain.

Bug-eyed

2011-05-03T20:28:00.002Z

I've been laying out The Case Of The Simple Soul for a little book that will hopefully be available at MCM Expo at the end of the month. Time is against me to an extent, but I'll try to have them ready. Looking over 94 of an eventual 98 completed pages (I still have 4 to draw), I noticed a couple of things:

1. Apparently I was keen to fill every square inch with as much detail as possible. In black and white (as these convention-special collections are), the pages suddently look very, very dense. No wonder I'm so tired, I've been drawing these loony-looking pages for 26 weeks straight!

2. This story is probably quite a lot better than the two that preceded it.

Still no news about proper published colour collections I'm afraid. As discussed ad nauseam, I could put them out myself tomorrow, but I've been doing that for eight years, I think I can make better books and reach a lot more people with the right help. That help has, thus far, been harder than expected to find - but I hope to get there. Several of my friends have offered kind assistance along the way.

I also want to link to a great blog, Alison Sampson's 'Space In Text' - it's a hugely thorough round-up of very strong illustration by someone with an excellent eye for it. A great place to go for inspiration or just to feel better about this dang ol' world.

In absentia

2011-05-02T20:13:00.001Z

This week's comics constitute the penultimate week of "The Case Of The Simple Soul". After next week, I've lined up five guest comics which will hopefully a. inform, b. entertain and c. delight you. I have also cooked up a daily sideshow event to the guest strips, an experiment that worked well enough to cast the cold light of day upon. The week after guest week, I will be living for pleasure alone. I'm not sure what I'm going to draw, but I'm not desperate to start another 100 page story immediately. So whatever it is should offer a quick hit of, and I choose my words carefully here, untrammelled excellence.

(Due to the fact that I work a week ahead, next week I will actually be on my holidays, collecting brass-rubbings in the crypts of East Anglia.)

In the remainder of May, you will be able to see me, alive and enervated, at the MCM Expo at London Docklands (May 27-29). More on that later in the month.

On this day in history

2011-05-01T15:59:00.000Z

I was looking back through some old guest strips and found the folder for my 2008 "Feats Of Strength" competition. Here it is! I can't believe the standard of the entries. The winner by Lissa Treiman (left) was amazing, I still remember being blown away when I received it.

Where is she now? Oh yes, working at Disney. It all worked out.

A week or so ago I asked for submissions for a similar fill-in week, but I didn't go about it in the right way. Bar one, I couldn't really tell from most of the people who wrote to me whether they would be able to make something that made sense as a fill-in for me. Earnest offers were made but I wasn't sure what I was looking at. I'll work out a proper reader submission thing later in the year, in the spirit of past events.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting"

2011-04-28T17:01:00.001Z

I haven't been to the supermarket lately, or rather, when I have, I've used the self check-out. But today I used a normal checkout. There was a short queue, it was busy. And as each person reached the cashier, she said "sorry to have kept you waiting". As she had doubtless been told to do.

CORPORATE OVERLORDS, LISTEN TO ME.

If you wish to imbue the grocery shopping experience with something approaching courtesy and grace, do not inform your members of staff to robotically repeat the same phrases, unless you wish to create - and I suggest you note this down - the impression that the cashier hates each and every customer. Nothing says "I'm not sorry" better than the exact circumstances you have created.

The self-checkout is a kind of robot. It generally works well. But that doesn't mean you should extend the brand values of this worthy automaton to your entire workforce, particularly - and I suggest you also note this down - the customer-facing part of your operation. Believe it or not, human beings can tell when human beings are behaving inauthentically.

I have finished now.

My tempestuous past

2011-04-26T11:26:00.000Z

Few are aware of my spell in the mid-90s as a "hot" artist. Profiled for Wizard magazine, I was described as "the new Whilce Portacio", in an article that memorably warned, "watch out, Trent Kaniuga!"

Hired to create an incendiary new spin on Miss Marvel by incoming ed-in-chief Bob Harras, I was run out of town on a rail when I submitted my first pages. Harras, a strong man when riled, picked me up by my coat collar and cast me into the New York foot traffic, where I was trampled for some minutes. I was so badly damaged by the shoes of the disinterested locals that when I returned, with "Bobbins", in 1998, it appeared that I could barely draw at all.

Little of this formative work remains intact, due to the rending it received in editorial hands, but here's a panel that shows you how my "no fighting, no crossovers" technique might have revolutionised the industry. Enjoy!

Man versus machine versus competence

2011-04-24T18:31:00.000Z

I'm always tinkering with the way I work to see if I can do better. Working purely digitally has vastly improved the finished standard of my comics, as I was never a great draughtsman and my composition was weak when I started working that way. But there are downsides to it - I have no originals to sell (an important part of many cartoonists' income), and I have to rely on a lot of expensive equipment. The trade-offs are worth it in terms of time saved and the knowledge that errors made in ink aren't fatal (the latter took a lot of stiffness out of how I draw, on or off the computer).

But I thought I'd have a go at inking some of my Manga Studio "pencils" traditionally and the results were very interesting!

I made a "blueline" out of my Manga studio page and printed it out at A3 portrait size (about 29cm high). I probably made it a bit pale, which created a few extra problems.

I had a go at inking with a Sailor variable-width nib fountain pen and a 0.3 graphic pen.

Now, bearing in mind that I had printed the panels out at twice the height and width I used to draw them at in the old pen and ink days; it was very hard to achieve the accuracy and detail I get on the Cintiq, and I mangled a lot of details on the first page I tried. The page was full of tiny figures that I suppose I have become very used to zooming in on to ink on-screen. I had no idea. I'm not sure that I could have accurately finished their features with a pin, let alone a pen.

I pretty much got to grips with this panel, but I was very aware as I worked on it that I couldn't really do any decision-making as I inked, something I've got very used to. It's not like I spend my time deleting a lot of things and re-doing them (inks only take me about an hour) but I really felt like I was missing things as I went around. Probably because I could barely see what I was doing.

This is the original panel as-was. If you compare this to the pencils and my quick inked version, you can see how much of the final brain-work is done in this stage.

Neither of these techniques is a panacea. I enjoy the level of precise-ness I can achieve with the computer, but I can never achieve the spontaneous, exciting shapes I can get with ease using traditional means. All those precise tiny lines come after I do the hard work of composition with a pencil and paper in thumbnails. It's just a style that does a job on the sort of comics I do. If I'm trying to make a point here, it's that once you've mastered the basics, just do whatever works best. But try to keep your hand in with everything.

Take A Break

2011-04-22T13:46:00.002Z

At the end of this current story (from Monday May 16th) Bad Machinery will be taking a break for a couple of weeks. For the first week I'll be on holiday, for the second week I'll be doing pages every day but not my standard comics, I'm going to draw whatever I fancy at the time. At the end of this two-week festival of messing about, I will return to my normal duties with a new Bad Machinery case.

During "holiday week", there will be nothing to entertain you but the sound of breeze through the twigs. I'd like to showcase exclusively newer, less well-known (to me at least) comic artists as I did Rebecca Head, Jamie Littler and Emily Ryan during the last guest fortnight.

If you think you're up to that standard (or failing that, the John Allison standard) and you fancy doing a Bad Machinery comic page, drop me an email at john@scarygoround.com with the subject line "Better Than The Breeze Through The Twigs", let me know what you are all about, and we can see if I've got a slot for you. Please don't send any finished artwork unless you are fantastically, precociously brilliant.

Erin watercolour

2011-04-21T16:09:00.002Z

In response to demand for the last batch of watercolours, I just did another one. Just one mind, I'm not exactly spoiling you. As before, to prevent a spate of refunds, it's available first-come first-served by email reservation. £32.50 including shipping.

Email scaryorders@gmail.com with "watercolour reservation" as your subject line and let me know which picture(s) you would like. I'll then direct you to the payment page. If you haven't paid within 24 hours of my sending you to the payment page, I'll cancel the reservation and put the pic back on sale - easy!

~~Erin (21 x 25cm, on 300gsm/140lb watercolour board)~~ SOLD!

Owl Desk

2011-04-12T17:33:00.000Z

Important news from the owl desk; I've got this to you as fast as I can manage. Hot off the press, you might say!

"Fun" for Cintiq owners

2011-04-11T19:33:00.000Z

The reason I bought my original Cintiq in 2007 was to use to use Manga Studio. Despite 7 years' prior daily use of a "trad" Wacom tablet, I couldn't master freehand drawing with it. The disconnect of eye and hand as you watch the cursor the screen was too much. I was far from accurate, and my shoulder would tense up in agony as I attempted pass after undone pass at long strokes.

I had a go at drawing with that same old Wacom tablet this evening as I had been using it for another job. And strangely, after years of using the Cintiq, I could now draw far more accurately than I could back in 2007. While I would never use an Intuos for all my daily drawing by choice (if the Cintiq broke and I couldn't replace it, I'd probably go back to pen and paper), I couldn't believe how much had improved.

Here's a little sketch I did, it wasn't as fluent as working on the Cintiq, but I got the sense that after a few weeks practice, I could probably get perfectly used to it.

I wonder if any other Cintiq users have had the same experience when they dug out their old tablet?

Bad Machinery wallpapers

2011-04-07T19:51:00.000Z

It's nearly two years to the day since I registered badmachinery.com and got to work on this new deal. So I've made some wallpapers. The different sizes are below!

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Janelle Monae

2011-04-04T15:22:00.001Z

I quite like drawing Janelle Monae. She's one of the most compelling performers of our age. No one can sing and dance like she can. Her album didn't quite win me over but I am certain that there are great things to come from Ms. Monae.

Foxhole

2011-03-24T17:07:00.000Z

When I ended Scary Go Round, I promised a new Shelley Winters project, "Destroy History", would follow. Well, it didn't. I wrote about 13 pages, couldn't see how I could write the character any more (given the direction I'd taken her), tore up what I'd done (I write all my comics longhand, away from the computer) and let the destroyhistory.com domain name lapse.

But I still enjoy drawing Shelley, she's a reasonable piece of very long-term character design. And on Sunday I started, by accident, working on a new thing for her. It's a short story called "Fox Flakes". It's not really a comic, it's all in rhyme, and I'm not sure what to do with it to justify working it up into a finished form. I don't even know what form it would take! And it's not drawn like my normal comics. But if you miss Shelley, she might just come back.

Watercolour sale

2011-03-21T16:30:00.005Z

I have five watercolour drawings (all on 300gsm/140lb watercolour board) left over from my two-city tour. To prevent a run on them and a spate of refunds, they will be available first-come first-served by email reservation. They're £32.50 each including shipping.

Email scaryorders@gmail.com with "watercolour reservation" as your subject line and let me know which picture(s) you would like. I'll then direct you to the payment page. If you haven't paid within 24 hours of my sending you to the payment page, I'll cancel the reservation and put the pic back on sale - easy!

~~Charlotte (21cm x 25cm)~~ SOLD!

~~Daisy (21cm x 25cm)~~ SOLD!

~~Shelley (21cm x 25cm)~~ SOLD!

~~Esther (17cm x 25cm)~~ SOLD!

Susan (21cm x 25cm)

Martin & Tracy

2011-03-20T18:53:00.000Z

I received this leaflet through my door the other day, I thought you might like to see it. Something about it worries me.

Here's Martin, hard at work. No bubbles in that wallpaper, and he's wearing a button-down shirt, lending a confident, stylish air to proceedings.

And here's Tracy. Nice job with those tiles, Tracy. That's a wicked finish too - no chance of cracking.

WHO'S THIS? It's not Tracy, and it's certainly not Martin!

The whole situation just has me feeling a little ill at ease. Until I know who the third party is, I won't be calling on Martin & Tracy for any of my painting and decorating needs.

Your move, Martin & Tracy.

Forty drawings

2011-03-18T08:46:00.000Z

Here are forty little drawings, give or take, drawn watching TV last night. Click for a better look!

Thanks!

2011-03-17T18:55:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone who commented on the Super Static Feedback Party post earlier today. I have said it before, but I am always surprised and delighted by the thought and care that you all put into your replies on posts like that. On an internet full of yahoos, crazies, loons, no-goodniks and wrong 'uns, I'm pretty sure that my readers by-and-large represent a calming island of sanity.

Super-static Feedback Party

2011-03-17T11:33:00.001Z

I've just been looking at the numbers for Bad Machinery and they're going nowhere. Let me tell you, dear readers, never has a project vexed me so. Everyone I speak to about the comic is very enthusiastic about it. They like the setup, the characters. And it's a comic I love making. But I just can't put on new readers. With Bobbins and Scary Go Round, the curve always pointed gently, and sometimes steeply, up. But I can't get any momentum behind my current work. It's infuriating!

When I look at the drawing and the writing, I can't see where I'm going wrong - I work hard at both. But obviously am doing something wrong, as I get very little feedback these days. So at the end of each story, I sit back and think, a. is it worth doing another one for 24 weeks and b. if it is worth it, what could I be doing better?

Here's what I suspect may be wrong

1. Kids are a hard sell
2. The stories, at 100 pages, are too long, or too slowly paced
3. There are too many central characters

In the old days it was easy: I read emails that people wrote, looked at my message board, did more of what people liked. Now I find myself apparently getting something fundamental wrong and not knowing what to do about it. It's not that the sky is falling in - I can survive, just about, at the present level, but I don't want to spend another six months repeating my mistakes.

Special presentation: The Mentalist

2011-03-15T18:18:00.000Z

I love The Mentalist. It's a program about a wizard, I think? Here's a special episode, just for you.

I apologise that there is a lack of some of the secondary characters in this comic but maybe I will do another one showcasing Van Pelt and that if you're really lucky.

London Small Press Expo review

2011-03-15T08:50:00.002Z

I have just returned with mixed emotions from the London Small Press Expo, a new event held at Goldsmiths College in our glittering capital.

Firstly, thank you to everyone who came down to see me! It is always a pleasure to meet people who enjoy my work, or who just take an interest in my varied luxury items on the day.

LSPE has in effect replaced the now-defunct, bizarrely named UK Web And Mini Comix Thing, an odd event at Queen Mary University that drew a large crowd every year but had begun to show signs of fatigue. Hopes were high that it would correct some of the faults of that event.

The venue (Goldsmiths' art deco Great Hall) was certainly far nicer, and the organisation on the day far superior. So it was disappointing that, with the doors opening at 10am, I didn't make my first sale until 90 minutes later. There were almost no punters for the first half of the show.

The situation began to improve after two o'clock, but this was in stark contrast to the Thing, where there tended to be a steady stream of people throughout the day. It was difficult to tell whether this was down to a lack of promotion, a poorly signposted, difficult to find venue, "New Cross fear", transportation difficulties or simply an ever-increasing number of similar events in the capital and further afield.

It may just have been the fault of the show's poorly-designed website, which featured ample information but made it very hard to dig out. I would be interested to hear people's opinions.

For all my reservations, it was hard to feel that the event cannot return, lessons learned, stronger next year. I still believe that there is a gap in the calendar for an alternative comics event in the UK (in the vein of Mocca or SPX) that draws talent by reputation rather than proximity. Rightly or wrongly, London is probably the place for that. But I'm still waiting.

For Your Consideration

2011-03-14T17:46:00.001Z

Here is a seaside special selection of sketches I drew this weekend as a thank you to those who voted for me in the Eagle Awards. It was very sweet of you, my readers are the best!

Here I am pretending to be a great caricaturist and editorial cartoonist. Sadly there are no actual likenesses in the image below. But imagine if any of this was real. IMAGINE!

It's cold underwater. Keep your fish warm with a "fish balaclava"! They love it.

I don't think Daisy is paying proper attention in this candid image. Note: Esther is withdrawing £30, enough for a pretty fun weekend in studentland.

Who is Steve Shields and why do his guitar stylings conjure images of a strange, inadequate Batwoman?

Finally, for KC Green, some BOMERS!

Looks Brains + Everything ebook

2011-03-09T13:43:00.000Z

As promised, I am slowly getting the out of print Scary Go Round books into the ebooks section of my store as PDFs. I've just put up Looks, Brains & Everything, which now includes the original SGR story, "Gas", and a new introduction all about that story - plus all the extras from the 2006 edition. It now clocks in at 163 pages! At this price, lunacy.

Giant Days 2

2011-03-08T12:30:00.001Z

Giant Days 2 is lightly pencilled in to run from mid-May - not sure as to its length and schedule yet. We will see! In the meantime, to remind you of this prospect, some wallpapers featuring the image below.

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LONDON AND LEEDS

2011-03-04T09:27:00.001Z

I have two appearances lined up this month, London at the Small Press Expo (at Goldsmiths art college) on March 12th and Leeds at the Alternative Comics Fair (at A Nation Of Shopkeepers - just off the Headrow) on March 19th. It would be great to see you - especially if you've not come to this sort of thing before! These are both relatively new events, the sort of thing that right minds support (if I have any say about it).

I will have a raft of luxury items with me, let me see...

* A load of new watercolours for sale (see my Flickr for in-progress pics)
* The Giant Days commemorative edition
* Bad Machinery story 1 & 2 collection
* Such Scary Go Round collections as I can gather together from my limited stock
* Knitting Is Zen totes
* A variety of prints (I will try to debut a new show-exclusive print too)
* Teatowels
* Stickers, badges (many new, idiotic designs) and fox fridge magnets (I know!)
* I will be doing postcard sketches of course
* As ever, RAW LOVE FOR FANS will be handed out willy-nilly

As well as my childish, baffled face, both shows have a selection of my favourite art kings and queens offering up their wares - see the respective websites for details.

TRAVEL INFO:
London: New Cross Gate or New Cross are the stations for Goldsmiths, they're both overground and underground so you should be able to avoid Mayor Boris' trademark weekend travel chaos.

Leeds: plough north from the station up Briggate, turn left onto the Headrow, pass Albion Street and Cookridge St is the next right. Easy!

Forbrydelsen

2011-03-03T12:20:00.002Z

Like all sane souls, I've really been enjoying The Killing on BBC Four, an excellent Danish detective series. The characters are great and the production design is excellent. There's something almost cartoonish about the way they all wear the same signature outfits most of the time - Lund's snowflake jumper, Meyer's stripy sweater, Troels Hartmann's purple shirt without a tie! So I have done a few little drawings and if you like them, maybe I'll do a few more.

Sarah Lund

Theis Birk Larsen

THE BABE-L-CLOTH

2011-02-24T20:28:00.000Z

HUNGRY? TOO TIRED TO MOVE, LET ALONE MAKE DINNER? TRY THE BABE-L-CLOTH! SIMULATE THE FORM OF A HUNGRY BABY, FLOATING BY A WALL!

Within two minutes of meeting each other, Leeds' top illustrator Kristyna Baczynski and I had come up with an incredible invention. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here we are modelling it.

We've not set a price yet, but you should probably form a line outside your nearest branch of Woolworths.

Writer's regret

2011-02-21T11:57:00.000Z

In art, you're meant to be able to rewrite all the mistakes that you made in life. But the more I look back at Scary Go Round from a point of years' remove, the more I see the glaring mistakes that I made. They're not "ran over a granny on a zebra crossing" type mistakes, more the permanently documented evidence of missed opportunities and mis-steps.

There's definitely a point in Scary Go Round where I start writing the comic that I think people want, rather than the one that I wanted to write. Don't worry, I couldn't have written that comic at the time even if I'd wanted to. I didn't have the tools, some might say "chops", to do so.

The biggest hole, for me, was at the heart of Esther and The Boy's relationship. It's expressed in such vague terms. The average story was 45 pages long, which didn't leave a lot of room to get to the root of the matter. It's only since writing the new comic that I've begun to understand some of those older characters properly.

Part of the reason that I wanted Bad Machinery to be about kids, and slower, was that I could look at these things more closely. I love drawing nutty things, but it's the interpersonal stuff that interests me when I write, more now than ever.

I used to try to fit as many firecrackers as I could into a comic's dialogue, now I'm more concerned with what I can leave out while saying as much as possible. Does that make sense?

In art, you can always go back, but it's best to press on. Endless revision is the domain of the insecure. I did do a couple of little drawings while I was thinking about this though. Perhaps you can see them.

In support of libraries

2011-02-20T17:54:00.000Z

I believe passionately in libraries and have been horrified by the prospect of closures throughout the system as part of local government cuts. I tried to make a useful comic to help but it wound up being a bit... flawed?

I am an economist: THE EURO

2011-02-20T15:40:00.000Z

What few of my readers know is that I am a skilled economist, and that my knowledge of the field is not restricted to hanging around the front door of the L.S.E giving winsome number-crunchers the glad-eye. I'm about to blow your mind by solving one of the major issues of the day.

THE EURO: IT'S ALL OVER

Economic brains such as myself know that it is all over bar the shouting for the Euro. European monetary union seemed great until crazy nations went buck wild, got drunk on debt, and blew up. Germany can't bail everyone out! If Spain "goes Ireland", no one will have any cash left. The global economy will collapse, government bonds will be used to line canary cages and you'll be buying chickens with your gold fillings.

I HAVE THE ANSWER

Several commentators have suggested a two-tiered Euro, one for all the economic basket cases, and another for the sensible countries. I say this is no good. You're storing up problems for the future.

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO

At a predetermined time, all countries in the Eurozone will reintroduce their original national currencies. Issuing new tender will be impossible, so every citizen will have the responsibility of crossing out "Euro" on notes and coins and writing "francs" or "lira" (etc) on there. They will also append as many zeroes as their country's central bank deems necessary. For francs, one zero. For lira, ten or eleven. And here's the important bit: no one acknowledges that they were ever a member of the Euro, ever again.

GLOBAL CURRENCY MARKETS AREN'T GOING TO LIKE THIS

No, they're not. But what can they do about it? This process works on a simple principle. Imagine European monetary union as a big office Christmas party. Everyone gets drunk. People misbehave. Someone screams at someone else during a blackout. Someone is sick on someone. Two people have "extra-marital sexual intercourse". Someone calls the boss "a knob" to his face. But the next day, you've all got to get along again. So nothing is ever said about the matter. And the hurt, like the hangover, fades.

THIS IS DANGEROUS THINKING

Rubbish. Come up with one example of when 326 million people simultaneously flat-out denying that they were ever members of a single currency has failed. You can't. And that's the point.

THANKS, JOHN

You're welcome.

Colin Meloy on the "race to the bottom"

2011-02-14T08:30:00.002Z

The quotes below are from a recent interview on Pitchfork with Colin Meloy. I've tried to make a post about this a couple of times on my blog but never managed to phrase it as succinctly as he does. He's referring to the music industry, but what he says is as true for any other entertainment sphere and mine in particular.

(The emphasis of certain sections is mine)

Pitchfork: Sixty-five percent of the sales for The King Is Dead were digital downloads, and a number of those were a result of Amazon's $3.99 album pricing. Not everyone's a fan of that particular practice. What's your take?

CM: It's their prerogative. It's like Costco-- they're just trying to get people onto the site. We don't take a hit. That said, there's bigger things at play. It's the devaluing of music. But music has been already devalued by the consumer. There's an expectation that it should be free so the race to the bottom has already been won. It's just a question of how we continue to protect copyrights and support the people who are making music. We are wiping out a potential generation of new voices because it's not as easy to get into it and support yourself. I have no idea what the solution to that is.

Pitchfork: Well, with new technologies, it seems like there are more avenues for people who want to make their voices heard popping up every day.

CM: Yeah, but when everybody is playing at the same level, there's so much more noise. And there's less incentive for the people who should be rising above that noise to take time and invest in what they're doing. It just becomes about hustling and grabbing attention.

Webcomics is the sphere where you give it all away. All your hard work, all of it. It works to an extent, but only to an extent. Giving away your backbreaking labour then selling someone a tshirt based on a Star Wars joke you knocked out in fifteen minutes is mental. I don't expect this to change, I don't think there are answers, but there are days that I want to shed tough, manly tears as I package up orders or desperately try to design merchandise when I could be doing a fifth, a sixth comic for the week.

Mope tshirt rough

2011-02-08T21:15:00.001Z

Mope tshirt rough, originally uploaded by scarygoround.

Pencil cleanup in Photoshop

2011-02-07T17:57:00.049Z

I've been trying to work out the best way to use just my pencil art to make comics, without inking it. Not for my main feature, but for fun side-projects, just to cut out some of the donkey work, to knock out quick comics for shows and things like that. I have a pretty serviceable pencil line - I've spent years practising not hashing around shapes but drawing things straight out.

The problem has been turning that greyscale art into something I can colour quickly with flood fills, which is to say, a grubby grey page into nice clean B&W line art. Here's how I did the image above.

1. Scan page at 600dpi greyscale.

2. Set the magic wand tolerance to 30, non-contiguously select the "paper" and fill it with white

3. Deselect the paper

4. Filters > Blur > Smart blur ; Radius: 4, Quality: High, Threshold: 75.4, Mode: Normal

5. Select the white area with the magic wand, non-contiguous, invert selection and fill with black

6. That should do it!

This didn't work perfectly on every image I tried it on - and fine details will suffer somewhat, but have a play with the settings - the basics are all there!

If you find this saves you a lot of time, maybe whole years of your life, why not visit my shop and express your gratitude in the only language my venal mind understands.

The Munch Bunch

2011-02-06T18:28:00.001Z

One of the most impressive developments of the 1990s was the discovery of how to extract every drop of charm from concepts that had previously been twee but delightful. To avoid breaking hearts all over town, I'll present the horrors first, followed by the originals.

By the late nineties, this was The Munch Bunch, 'tood-crazy yogurt shills

But fifteen years earlier, they had been a low-budget but sweetly wiggy puppet show featuring (in this episode) an incredible reggae jam, a weeping onion and some mad Moog incidental music. This is genuinely the same thing.

Another egregious instance of this madness was Sugar Puffs' Honey Monster campaign. By the mid-nineties he had become a faintly sinister character, puffed up not with wheat but SOLID 'TOOD!

This was the original campaign, little short of genius.

I do sense that there is a concerted attempt of late to retrieve the baby in this case, even if the bathwater is long gone.

Work expands to fill the available space

2011-02-02T09:03:00.002Z

In preparing two of my old books for digital downloads in the last few days, I couldn't help but wonder how on earth I managed to do these extra books (one of which was 100 pages long!) alongside the main comic. Along the way I managed another couple, both of which ran to about 30 pages - all of which when I was doing five, not four comics a week.

Then I had a look back, and saw that the period during which I worked on them coincides with some of the, shall we say, lesser work in my back catalogue. Stories that, rather than not ending well, didn't really end at all. The work in these lovely parenthetical volumes, seen by around 2000 people on each occasion, rather spoiled my daily efforts.

Needless to say, scarcely a day goes by when I don't fancy a stab at another side project. I love making proper, standalone books! But if a member of the audience could nominate themselves to come and pat me gently on the shoulder when I suggest it, and take me away for a seaside "rest-cure", it might be best for everyone concerned.

Here's a long lost drawing I found from this era. The era of uneconomical toil. Speak to you... SOON!

Girlspy and HMHAF ebooks

2011-02-01T18:35:00.000Z

Several of my books are now out of print, including a few containing material that was never available on the web. I've put two of these, Girl Spy (24 pages) and Heavy Metal Hearts & Flowers (99 pages), up for sale as PDFs in my shop.

These two are unusual among my output, as they were conceived of and written as whole books, rather than collections of daily pages. I was very proud of both of them at the time, and looking at them again for the first time in years, I still felt that way.

I made a new cover for Heavy Metal Hearts And Flowers too, a mysterious image full of manly strength.

The Mope

2011-01-26T12:31:00.002Z

The Mope
Originally uploaded by scarygoround

Super-seamstress Feltmistress has been teasing me all week with something she was making for me, and LOOK! It's my most mystifyingly popular creation of recent times, THE MOPE, rendered in glorious fake fur. It's an honour and a privilege to meet him. But why do I feel... so sad?

Bob Staake

2011-01-24T22:39:00.000Z

You are probably familiar with Bob Staake's work even if you don't exactly know him by name. As well as a series of iconic New Yorker covers in recent years, he's responsible for an astonishing run of childrens' books (often writing as well as drawing) alongside copious illustrations. His books feature gorgeous endpapers and the kind of attention to finish that I wish I could emulate - hopefully one day I will get there. Bob is very open about his process, if you follow him on Facebook he drops all kinds of anecdotes and insights on a daily basis. To the best of my knowledge, he still uses Photoshop 3 to generate his trademark style, making a mockery of the "upgrade curve" - as the video below displays. There are a number of videos of his technique if you search for "Bob Staake" on Youtube.

I honestly believe that among working illustrators, Bob is peerless today and an example to anyone who wants to see how to do the job right. Here's his website!

New links, new danger

2011-01-23T13:55:00.000Z

I often fear that I neglect my blog these days, we get a little rush of activity, but then my interest is diverted to Twitter or Flickr or all the other places you can issue forth a swiftly-forgotten memorandum. I rather like how information soon dies on Twitter, I can stamp my foot about some terrible abuse of the English language and a day or so later, it's like it almost never happened. The human dream writ large.

I've added some new links to my blog list on the right, great artists whose work will enhance your day.

Dan Berry - Dan runs a great comics blog called the Comics Bureau, full of interviews and pointers to fine work. He is also one of the the most disciplined artists I have met; in the couple of years I have known him, his comics artwork has improved to an amazing extent, there are good things to come from "Dan Berry Wine".

Warwick Johnson Cadwell - I'm sure I've written about Warwick before, he's a stellar illustrator who literally never stops, despite working a variety of jobs and attending to his young family. He makes the rest of us look weak-limbed and shabby.

Eric Colossal - Eric makes games, but he also makes comics sometimes, and what comics! He has a great, expressive line and is a very funny writer.

Steffi Schütze - Steffi works primarily in fashion illustration, often with her partner Christian Nauck, but her blog is full of process work that I find fascinating. She also links to a lot of high-end fashion photography that I doubt I would ever see otherwise.

Giant Days cover

2011-01-19T16:17:00.000Z

I'm making a little collection of the Giant Days story, just to bolster my range. It should be available soon. Here's the cover!

The Little Goth Boxes

2011-01-10T18:36:00.001Z

Here's a poster I designed yesterday...

I'm in the process of reorganising that side of things so I don't (personally) have to ship tubes any more but this is a likely candidate for sale. I'm also designing some new items that I haven't sold before that I think you'll like!

My recent design efforts have illuminated some interesting issues. I can't easily make Bad Machinery merchandise because you can't really sell stuff with childers on it to adults. Books are one thing, the stories are meant to be like Calvin and Hobbes, good for all ages. But when it comes to visual stuff to sell, I can't make it work that way. Whereas Giant Days is easy, for pretty obvious reasons. It's broad and unapologetically sassy! Like a drunk aunt at a wedding.

Sketch Fiesta 12 and THE MOPE

2011-01-07T17:07:00.000Z

The Mope heralds a new Sketch Fiesta, my twelfth! Why not be like me, fill book after book with delirious inanities.

The Mope has proved a suspiciously popular figure. What next for this miserable lump?

2010 Chart in "full"

2011-01-04T17:17:00.000Z

Here's my last chart post (if you're interested, all my charts from 1987-2010 are still up, here). I've added links to Amazon so you can listen to all the song samples, and if you buy one, I get thruppence. Nice.

No more music posts now, none. Back to normal.

1 PUBLIC STRAIN - Women
2 THE AGE OF ADZ / ALL DELIGHTED PEOPLE EP - Sufjan Stevens
3 BEFORE TODAY - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
4 HALCYON DIGEST - Deerhunter
5 HAVE ONE ON ME - Joanna Newsom
6 III/IV - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
7 THE SUBURBS - Arcade Fire
8 S-M 2: ABYSS IN B MINOR - Serena-Maneesh
9 CLINGING TO A SCHEME - The Radio Dept.
10 COSMOGRAMMA - Flying Lotus

11 SHADOWS - Teenage Fanclub
12 INNERSPEAKER - Tame Impala
13 AT ECHO LAKE - Woods
14 GRAPPLING HOOKS - North Atlantic Oscillation
15 FIELD MUSIC 3 (MEASURE) - Field Music
16 AVI BUFFALO - Avi Buffalo
17 DISCONNECT FROM DESIRE - School Of Seven Bells
18 TEEN DREAM - Beach House
19 NERVE UP - Lonelady
20 MARE - Julian Lynch

21 TREATS - Sleigh Bells
22 THE COURAGE OF OTHERS - Midlake
23 KALEIDE - Sky Larkin
24 FANG ISLAND - Fang Island
25 A BALLOON CALLED MOANING EP - The Joy Formidable
26 EUROPEAN - Sambassadeur
27 LIFE OF LOVE - Callers
28 RELAYTED - Gayngs
29 MAKE YOU MINE - Best Coast
30 I WILL BE - Dum Dum Girls

Sound of 2011

2011-01-03T10:07:00.001Z

On the first week of the year, the BBC website runs its BBC Sound of 2011 (for example) poll. With the greatest of respect - IGNORE IT. Here are the five acts to look out for this year - ending with the "Sound of 2011".

5. Botulism

Botulism is the project of Swansea-based audio technician Marcus Smith. Rather than embracing traditional instruments, Smith "tuned" twenty-four full-size hot air balloons then shot them with a cannon, sampling each explosion and using the resultant notes as the sole basis for his songs. A recent tour with Scouting For Girls showed that the act could also work in mid-sized venues. Look out for his 'Melt Their Faces' single at the end of the month, with an album due in March.

4. Macadamia 4000

Macadamia 4000's Pa'ul Welch and Nancy Bosson met working at Williamsburg's notorious 'Pies And Thighs' restaurant, where they discovered a mutual love of Prince, The Simpsons, and unfashionable right-wing politics. They've toned down the Tea Party rhetoric of their early indie EPs, but the synthetic funk of their major label debut "Palin" is still expected to make a few pinkos nervous.

3. Tunnel Under

Portsmouth hasn't been this hip since Telly Savalas popped in during the 1970s! Pompey three-piece Tunnel Under (formerly of S Club Juniors and Fightstar) throw off the shackles of their previous bands to create a sound blending ESG, Tom Tom Club and Oliver Postgate theme tunes! Their Mary Roze club night has had lines out of the door for a year, and the April release of their "Duttons For Buttons" mini-album ought to make them the toast of the festivals.

2. Stu*Stu*Studioline

Described by Radio 1's Zane Lowe as "the sound of a giant, musical fist smashing the Eastern Bloc", Poland-via-Coventry outfit Stu*Stu*Studioline's non-traditional approach, advertising mostly in delicatessens and independent supermarkets, turned out to be the start of a whirlwind 2010, leading to them being asked to accompany Roxy Music on their tour of abandoned London bandstands. Their 15-minute "Ghost Wheel" single was an indelible calling card, with its sonic maelstrom frequently described as "indescribable". Album "Magic Void" should stir a few hearts in February.

1. Maisie Blakefield

Championed by figures as diverse as Nigella Lawson and new Tory MP Zach Goldsmith, Maisie Blakefield has been writing songs since her early teens. After spells at Italia Conti and RADA, she decided to turn her attention to her first love - music. Citing Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Alison Moyet and Crass among her influences, a bidding war in September saw her signed to Universal. Her first single "Spangle Stars" is out tomorrow.

A wretched scratching at the door

2011-01-02T10:14:00.000Z

2011, 2011! This is the year! It is your time to shine, ladies and gentlemen! Or is it my time to shine? I have no idea. I don't think I've ever worked harder than I had to last year, at times I thought my brain had deflated like a second-hand beach ball. But I survived. Let's hope that some of that furious effort pays off.

YOUR QUESTIONS, ANSWERED

* A few people have asked if there will be more Giant Days, and there's every chance that I'll do another month-long run in between Bad Machinery stories as it proved so popular last time. That would mean it would be back in May. I might collect the first story in a little book, though I'm not sure anyone is clamouring for such an item.

* Bad Machinery will continue for as long as making it is viable. At the end of each story I review the numbers and see what is to be done. I'll always err on the side of caution, as I love the process of making the longer stories, and writing these characters.

But I want to explore all the avenues for publishing it before I put it out myself (as hopefully it could have an audience outside the traditional webcomics sphere), so a collection isn't in the works at the moment.

I've been experimenting with my looser sketchbook style, I'd quite like to make some minicomics that exploit it to reasonable effect. Here's a particularly rough and ready page. I have quite an "attacking" pencil line but as soon as you ink it, it's gone. A note to my more timid readers: this was just for fun, I'm not going to start putting up comics this messy on the main site.

Albums of the year 4-1

2010-12-31T05:45:00.001Z

4 HALCYON DIGEST - Deerhunter

"Desire Lines"

3 BEFORE TODAY - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

"Bright Lit Blue Skies"

2 THE AGE OF ADZ - Sufjan Stevens

"Too Much"

1 PUBLIC STRAIN - Women
2010 was a good year for albums, but I think this would have led the list any year it was released. Full of interesting melody, complicated song structures, and experimental without ever being painful, I got something new out of it every time I listened. I was sorry to hear that the band ended the year by falling apart but on the basis of the quantum leap between their last record and this, I pray that they will be back.

"Can't You See"

"Locust Valley"

Albums of the year 8-5

2010-12-30T05:45:00.001Z

8 CLINGING TO A SCHEME - The Radio Dept

"Domestic Scene"

7 SM2: ABYSS IN B-MINOR - Serena-Maneesh

"I Just Want To See Your Face"

6 THE SUBURBS - Arcade Fire

"The Suburbs"

5 HAVE ONE ON ME - Joanna Newsom

"Good Intentions Paving Company"

Albums of the year 12-9

2010-12-29T05:45:00.004Z

12 AT ECHO LAKE - Woods

"Blood Dries Darker"

11 INNERSPEAKER - Tame Impala

"Lucidity"

10 SHADOWS - Teenage Fanclub

"Shock And Awe"

9 COSMOGRAMMA - Flying Lotus

"Mmm-hmm (featuring Thundercat)"

Albums of the year 16-13

2010-12-28T05:45:00.002Z

16 DISCONNECT FROM DESIRE - School Of Seven Bells

"I L U"

15 AVI BUFFALO - Avi Buffalo

"What's In It For"

14 FIELD MUSIC 3 (MEASURE) - Field Music

"Them That Do Nothing"

13 GRAPPLING HOOKS - North Atlantic Oscillation

"Cell Count"

Albums of the year 20-17

2010-12-27T05:45:00.003Z

20 Treats - SLEIGH BELLS

"Infinity Guitars"

19 Mare - JULIAN LYNCH

"Ruth, My Sister"

18 Nerve Up - LONELADY

"Immaterial"

17 Teen Dream - BEACH HOUSE

"Silver Soul"

I couldn't embed the videos for Norway and Zebra but they're on Youtube if you want to see them

Goals

2010-12-22T13:45:00.000Z

It frightens me when I speak to art students and graduates who don't have any concrete goals for where they want to go with their art. It terrifies me how many of them end up serving coffee and barely doing any art at all. I try to tell them to look around at what other people are doing successfully and model their approach on that.

Set a lot of short term, achievable targets, and one or two nuttier ones. Just make your mind up, no one is going to put you in prison for falling short. When you're working during the day, throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks in the evening will soon use up what little energy you have left. Making a decision, and knowing roughly where you're going, lets you spot specific opportunities when they arise. What's the worst that could happen?

A festive wish to all readers

2010-12-21T18:23:00.000Z

It's the giving season, so here's the Christmas card for all my readers, thanking you for your kind attention in 2010. Blessings be upon your hearths!

A traditional Christmas

2010-12-21T15:48:00.002Z

For me, it's not Christmas until the family sits down together to watch The Star Wars Holiday Special, the glittering jewel in the Lucasfilm canon. We all have our favourite moments, I'm sure - there's a reason that this is re-released in increasingly handsome DVD box sets every Jesustide - I just bought it on Blu-Ray!

HAPPY LIFE DAY!

TOP TEN NOT-FROM-2010

2010-12-19T22:57:00.003Z

These were the top ten records I bought this year that weren't from this year. I hope that makes sense. Most of them are inexcusable holes in my record collection, things I missed, often things that I heard "too early" or on someone's horrible car stereo that just sounded grisly back in the day.

10 NEVER GONNA TOUCH THE GROUND - Still Flyin' (2009)
- Glorious, kaleidoscopic party music
9 STRANGE BIRD - Augie March (2004)
- Mainstream Australian hit but left of centre in the best possible way
8 HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS - Cocteau Twins (1990)
- I thought I had enough Cocteau Twins to be honest
7 FAITHFUL - Todd Rundgren (1976)
- First side is some unnecessary covers, second side some of his best songs
6 GET BETTER - Lemuria (2008)
- At its best, sweet and concise like the early-90s Lemonheads records
5 K.K.K.K.K - Kahimi Karie (1997)
- Bought a decade ago and never played, quite splendid
4 HISSING FAUNA, ARE YOU THE DESTROYER - of Montreal (2007)
- Not purchased at the time of release due to long-term resentment of £18 paid for import copy of their first, horrible album
3 ADVENTURE - Television (1978)
- Deeply underrated follow-up to Marquee Moon
2 NEW DAY RISING - Husker Du (1985)
- Used to find it a bit abrasive on the office stereo, never got past track 2, what an idiot
1 TENDER PERVERT - Momus (1988)
- Basically perfect record of its era

(POST) CHRISTMAS LISTS

2010-12-18T21:12:00.000Z

Bad Machinery will be taking a week-long Christmas break starting December 27th. Now, traditionally this period was taken up by Shelley's Dr Ladysounds end-of-year list, but with Scary Go Round now over, it felt like time for something new.

So from the 27th-31st here will be some lo-fi Giant Days comics rounding up the year's ripest releases in reverse order, plus videos and the usual explanatory notes. There's a lot of dancing, a few dangerously psychedelic moments, and some appallingly off-beam analysis.

Further festive entertainment below from Reeves and Mortimer's 1991 BBC2 Christmas special, as personal favourite John Shuttleworth drops in with a seasonal song ("Christmas Orphan").

Pantheon Of Idiots

2010-12-17T10:38:00.000Z

People love to wax nostalgic over the things of their youth, and fair enough. But the one fond memory I can never countenance is He-Man. He was chronic.

Preening, be-bobbed aristocrat He-Man resembles nothing so much as the kind of aryan fellow who would pound on lesser youths at school. Over-muscled and gloriously vain, clad in furry hotpants and boots and... something he bought from the garden centre... this pompous ass wails on upbeat goth Skeletor week-in, week-out - presumably for liking The Mission and Sisters Of Mercy (not sure).

I won't explore his weird cousin She-ra's transposition of the "He-Man" way to a perfect prototype of the "Mean Girls" ethos but, needless to say, I think she was in many ways worse, titting about on her bloody gymkhana pony.

He-Man: a ponce, a ninny, and worse, a BRUTE.

Holier than holy

2010-12-16T11:12:00.000Z

Tuesday's Christmas messages so puffed me up with joy that I neglected to post a Christmas video yesterday. So today, here are two. My two favourite Christmas songs ever*. The first showcases a giant of Caribbean folk with a peculiarly gnomic take on a classic standard.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - JOSEPH SPENCE

Now, the second video can be somewhat hard to get through. It may be a little too earnest for some people. All I can say is that, like many uncomfortable things, you get used to it the third or fourth time.

It's Christmas - GOTTA BE ANDREW!

* "Ever" may be a bit strong

Holy holy holy

2010-12-14T10:20:00.000Z

Things are winding down in the run up to Christmas, so as promised, I will bring you a little something every day. First, let's get a little holy with what I can only describe as the greatest Christmas album ever made. It's VERY hot and VERY now - check out this commercial.

You can find out more about Lunge Dolphin at the THEFUDGEBABIES website and I recommend that you bookmark it three or four times.

In other news, here are a couple of recent interviews that I did, packed with mirth, merriment, making-merry, and merr (more)!

* An interview at Coilhouse

* An interview at The Comics Bureau

I will return... tomorrow!

A must read article for the self employed!

2010-12-05T15:47:00.000Z

Sorry for the lack of blog action at the moment, I'm in the midst of the pre-Christmas rush but once I return from ATP in Minehead on the 13th, there will be a flurry of blog activity - loads of end of year music things, a new Sketch Fiesta, and some end-of-year etchings.

In the meantime, here's a great article for self-employed people by Keri Smith. My favourite point is below, but they're all worth reading.

7. If you want to work on your art, work on your life. All those personality traits that aren’t working for you will come back to haunt you in your career (i.e. assertiveness, fear of conflict, fear of confrontation.) It’s all connected.

Thought Bubble 2010 review

2010-11-23T18:14:00.002Z

This year's Thought Bubble convention in Leeds was the best yet. I think it was the best run, best attended convention that I have been to in the UK, an event that showcased great artists of every stripe. With each successive year that I have exhibited (this was the third) I have been busier, and this year I was pinned behind the table the whole time, barely able to get out and look at the other other stalls. I really enjoyed doing a show so close to where I grew up, too, hearing the accents of my youth.

While I couldn't get out and meet as many people as I wanted to, I have some links to people's work that I really liked.

The first one is Kristyna Baczynski, I wanted to speak to her, maybe learn the secrets of her amazing work. Alas she was always busy, but it was pretty plain how good it was. Take a look at this!

In a similar vein is young hero of British comics, Luke Pearson. Luke seems a good man, he is a match for any of the top contenders of the US scene. Rumour has it that Ivan Brunetti and Adrian Tomine are looking over their shoulders in fear as Pearson casts his long, slight shadow across the Atlantic.

I submit the very funny comic stylings of Timothy Winchester without comment, as frankly, he never pipes down.

I bought something fantastic from Octavia Raitt but I can't find a link to where you would get it and I can't tell you what it was as it is a present so I guess no one is the wiser and no one ever will be.

It was a real thrill to meet Simon Gane, an incredible comic maker who, to my shame, I hadn't heard of a few months ago. His work is genuinely inspiring.

And finally, I got a copy of Thank Goodness For Herald Owlett, a comic with a great style that promises much more from its creator.

That is all I can remember, as I am very tired, and very old.

My last post

2010-11-22T20:40:00.001Z

I really can't believe the response to my last post. It has appeared all over the place. I thought a couple of dozen people would read it and take it to heart, and I pretty much knew who those people were. I figured they could ask me to clear up any points in person!

For the most part it has been taken in the spirit it was intended, though it's dispiriting to see it re-posted elsewhere without my proviso that there is always room for hobbyism and art for art's sake. People can do what the dickens they like! I spend my whole life telling people to draw for the joy of it.

I think I made one point badly. When I say "don't read comics", I mean "don't read comics to learn how to construct a story". And even then I'm being harsh, but I know a number of people who never crack open a prose book and it drives me up the wall. Being able to sit down and concentrate on reading something for an hour or two is extremely useful and good for your brainium in the modern media age.

A scene that celebrates itself has nothing to celebrate

2010-11-18T15:23:00.001Z

I've been in apartments overseas where there were four times as many people resident and making a living off their own comics than manage to do it in the UK. Over the 12 years I've been active in UK indie comics, I've been constantly impressed by the standard of skill within our comics community, and horrified by the way people eventually disappear, unable to sustain themselves or their work.

The points below are what I've learned doing indie comics as a career. There's always room for art for art's sake, for hobbyism, but these are the lessons I've learned for those who want to escape that prevailing mood. I've turned off comments because, while you're welcome to disagree, I don't really want to argue about it.

A MANIFESTO FOR UK INDIE COMICS IN 2010

1. Maybe living in the most expensive place in the country is not the best idea anyone ever had

If you want to do comics for a living, here's an idea: don't live in the capital. London may be the thriving, beating heart of UK culture, but if you want to stop working in a shop and doing your comics in the evening, try living somewhere cheaper. Which is to say, anywhere.

2. Small press: it is not 1994 any more

There are comics on the internet now. If you're good enough, have a decent website, and keep a reliable schedule, you can have a whole career there. The notion of the primacy of a photocopied quasi-zine "small press scene" in the UK is ludicrous. 1 in 4 people in the world can speak English. Questionable Content has half a million readers. It is not rocket science.

3. Make comics for people who don't make comics

Why is anyone other than your comic making friends and a few select interested parties going to read an art-damaged visual tone-poem about the inside of your psyche? Learn how to engage and entertain people. It's a profoundly useful skill.

4. Forget what you learned at art school and read some business books

You need entrepreurial chops to make a living from your art, or the help of someone who has them. It's not that hard. You copy someone who has already succeeded. It usually works.

5. Making money from art is not vulgar

Art is a commodity. It makes people feel something. It raises the greater sum of human happiness. It increases the gaiety of the nation. It has a value.

6. Making pamphlets is ridiculous

Comic book pamphlets are largely read by ageing comic book fans looking for a monthly fix. Generating two such booklets a year is not medicine enough for anyone. Don't fetishize the object, it is part of another era. There are now many better ways to reach an audience.

7. Diary comics: stop it

If your only comics outlet is a diary comic on the internet, you are wasting your time and your energy. The success stories in this field are the product of people with strong, often eccentric personalities and a robust visual vocabulary, capable of turning their lives into a compelling narrative. The 200 people who read your diary comic, on the other hand, all make their own dull diary comics. Or are about to start.

8. Read some actual books

If you want to learn how to construct proper narratives and tell good stories, stop reading comics. All you'll ever do is produce watered down versions of the things you like. Read actual books, the hard ones without pictures in them. Comics are baby school, reading prose is hard graft.

9. A scene that celebrates itself has nothing to celebrate

The affirmation of your work by your friends in a small scene means nothing. No one is going to tell you that your work is bad to your face and risk being ostracised. Seek the widest audience for your work, if that's what you want, then ask yourself why things are or aren't working.

10. Being ambitious doesn't equate to being unpleasant

Being ambitious doesn't mean destroying the opposition. There is plenty of air to go round. It means doing your best work without simultaneously apologising for it.

NEWW 2, Giant Days, Thought Bubble

2010-11-15T13:23:00.001Z

I'm back on home soil after my adventures in Brookyn and at New England Webcomics Weekend. My trip to the USA has filled my with vigour, although that vigour is currently manifesting as jet lag. I can tell you that during the brief window of time that my brain functions correctly at the moment, I feel like a million dollars.

New England Webcomics Weekend was a great show, a banner example of a well-run small convention. It was great to meet so many enthused readers, especially on Saturday, when the wave of people barely seemed to stop. Easthampton is hardly a well-connected metropolis, so it was quite something to see how many people attended.

I also got the chance to meet some creators who, if I'd run into them before, I'd not really ever had chance to talk to. I'm sure that if I try to list everyone that I met and liked, I'll leave someone out, but I know for certain that I finally got to spend quality time with Karl Kerschl of The Abominable Charles Christopher, comic machine KC Green, Becky & Frank of Tiny Kitten Teeth, and the suspiciously charming Sara Bauer (Hey Pais) and Tom McHenry (Non Canon). Oh and Jorge Cham of PHD Comics, who flew in in a helicopter of his own design*. I apologise to anyone whose feelings I have brutalised, I remember meeting a lot of other people, all lovely. All of you.

* I may have misremembered this

GIANT DAYS
It's the final week of my Giant Days miniseries, I've had some very kind emails about it, a great response. Many of them asked if and when the series will return. At the moment I'm not sure, I'd prefer it to be ongoing than an occasional side-feature, and I can only draw one of those at once. Talks are going on in back rooms under flickering, unshaded bulbs, keep watching the chimney for a puff of white smoke.

THOUGHT BUBBLE FESTIVAL, LEEDS
This weekend I'll be at the Thought Bubble Festival in Leeds, exhibiting my wares and doing my best to charm and delight. I've got a panel at 10.30 in the morning about "digital comics", I'll either be dead serious and tell you the basic true facts, or do a series of jokes, either way you will get your money's worth. I'll write a little more about this show later in the week.

New England Webcomics Weekend 2

2010-11-04T13:38:00.000Z

I am currently in the USA, priming myself for a train trip to Western Massachusetts for New England Webcomics Weekend! On Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of November I will be selling my wares at Easthampton Eastworks. Tickets are still available on the door for local types and it should be a splendid time. On Sunday you can look forward to Christopher Hastings taking me on, Frost-Nixon style, in a head to head interview of a sort previously unseen at ANY EVENT.

I will have a variety of red hot items for sale, including a few show-exclusive items

* A B&W collection of all the Bad Machinery comics so far called "A Feral Flag Will Fly", in a nice big format (NEWW and Thought Bubble shows only)

* My Dr Who & Amy Pond prints (I have 20, so apply early)

* Buttons & Stickers

* All the Scary Go Round book collections

* Fixed-price postcards

* Lady Gaga and We Will Do Our Best posters

* A selection of tshirts available in the "Dumbrella Apparel Zone" and the "Topatoco Clearance Area"

I hope to see a few of you there!

No longer a mystery

2010-10-28T07:22:00.000Z

I worked out why readership numbers had mysteriously shot up, and they have shot down again. It was exciting to feel like a king for a week, but it was also distracting.

Mystery success

2010-10-25T11:51:00.002Z

Well, Giant Days week one produced some odd statistics, namely twice the traffic that Bad Machinery had been getting. Since it didn't get any links from anywhere special, I have to put this down to youthful high spirits.

After a year of struggling to build traffic for Bad Machinery and crossing my fingers that things would get better, it was a bit weird to watch the unique numbers shoot up throughout the week. You can say it's a bit more like Scary Go Round was but, really, it's less like it than Bad Machinery was! There's one character left! Well, I'm not complaining. My only concern is what might happen when the five weeks are up. If the situation stays like this (and it might not, of course), there may have to be a CLIMACTIC POLL OF ALL SCARY GO ROUND READERS.

John Allison: Man Of Audio

2010-10-17T18:23:00.000Z

I recently guest hosted on David Malki and Kris Straub's Tweet Me Harder, which was tremendous fun to do and hopefully fun to listen to. You'll learn a lot about me, sadly very little of it true.

If you can only bear to listen to something for five minutes, why not have a gander at my short interview with Joe List (of Freak Leap and The Annotated Weekender). Joe will tell you how to make a living from webcomics in very short order. Make sure to stick around right to the end.

A Feral Flag Will Fly

2010-10-06T18:53:00.000Z

Here's the quick cover I made for a book you will find it almost impossible to buy! I thought you might like to see it anyway. Bad Machinery books will emerge early next year I hope, but they won't be in this format or have a title I decided upon in 15 seconds.

The drawing was a flyer I made for last year's Thought Bubble:

The characters were so new then! It's funny to look at them and see how some had taken shape but others hadn't at all.

Aubrey Beardsley's Lady Gaga

2010-09-29T15:00:00.001Z

Lady Gaga is a strange confection, I'm really not sure what point she is making at all. Visually she is fascinating but her music and her odd message about "little monsters" don't pack quite the same punch. I did enjoy myself drawing this though.

I drew it as a style exercise, trying to come up with some new print/teatowel ideas. Beardsley's line is fascinating, it is a very simple fixed width, often used consistently throughout the whole page. His use of black and white is so masterful, incredible balance of form and shade. A longtime favourite of mine! I love art nouveau.

Not ultimately sure if I will use this drawing, so let me know if you like it.

Sketch Fiesta 11 is up

2010-09-27T11:29:00.000Z

It's been a few months since the last one, so I've posted a new Sketch Fiesta featuring lots of Giant Days sketches, the "Sea Bros", umpteen shady characters, and much, much more. Looking at it will make you feel like a king/queen/baron/baroness.

Bonus comic: Whatever Happened To Jive Bunny

2010-09-23T19:00:00.000Z

I know that a lot of people have been wondering what Jive Bunny has been up to since the last of his three chart-toppers. Here's the answer.